Employee’s excitement and motivation is at its peak when first hired. However, it is common that after settling into a routine of the daily grind, the excitement and motivation begins to wane. Before that happens the employer has an opportunity to reverse the trend. Parties everyday is impractical but team building days that happen once, twice or even three times a year can build moral among the entire workforce.
Team-Building is Important to Employee’s Sense of Belonging
Team building is the most important term. The purpose is to include everyone and to encourage those that tend to keep to themselves to join into the activities. Employees learn things about themselves and the ones around them that they never knew before.
- Misunderstandings can dissolve when seen from a different perspective
- Alliances are formed when faced with a dilemma to work through
- Personalities are exposed in new and different ways
- Ideas come to those that free themselves from the “it is how it has always been done” mentality
Team-building days are fun as well as challenging.
There is going to be a Team-Building Day – Now What
It is easy to talk about a team-building day but making it happen may be more challenging. Deciding what to do and where to do it involves making many decisions, consideration of the cost and what would make the greatest impact. Why not let the employees plan the day? The details would be different for a small business compared to a large business of course. A small business may include only a few employees while a larger business could include a hundred or more. The type of business would also make a difference – would outdoor challenges be best or would a cooking class be better?
What is the best Team-Building Event
Team-Building events are often thought of as outdoor challenges like rock climbing and obstacle courses. They may even include a trip to another state or a cruise to an exotic island. While those are great ideas they are not the only way to improve employee motivation. The state of the economy over the past several years has caused many businesses to change their extravagant ways. In some ways that is a good thing because often simple is better. Employees interact with each other instead of their surroundings. Getting to know each other is easier when there are fewer events.
Asking the employees what they would like may be surprising. Special training to improve their positions in the company, working together for a charity or taking hands on cooking class given by a celebrity chef may be exactly the right plan.
Team-Building Days Improve Employee’s View of their Job
Employees that love their jobs appreciate the benefit of a team-building day. Positive events also affect employees that have begun to dread going to work every day. Create a scrapbook to remind each employee and the employer of what is good about where they work now and in the future.
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For more resources, see our Library topic Team Building.
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Written by guest writter Tom Tolladay, event organiser for Chillisauce.
Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, provides organizational development, consultant training and Action Learning services, and is developer of the Free Management Library.